Iron Man Harper Stark's story
by Liza Knight
Summary: Harper Stark is Tony Stark's only child and this is the story of how she made it through her father going missing for those three months. Also how will she deal finding out all the lies surrounding her father's abduction. OC alert. This is just a preview of a possible story to come.
1. Chapter 1

**Iron Man – Harper Stark**

**Chapter one**

**This is a little drabble I did at 4AM out of boredom. Please excuse any typos. I haven't written anything in a while. If anyone likes this I'll continue to write it. This is just just a little preview. I know its VERY short! **

"Good morning Miss Harper." The voice of the computer filled her head, startling her awake from her pleasant sleep. Groaning, she rolled over as the automatic tenting of the windows started fading away, letting the sun come shinning in on her face.

"It's seven AM, the weather in Malibu is seventy-two degrees with scattered clouds, the surfs are fair. With waist to shoulder high lines, high tide will be at ten fifty two..." Jarvis rambled on as she reached for her pillow tossing it over her head.

"It's early Jarvis!" She groaned rolling over onto her back taking the pillow from her head and tossing it across the room at the wall.

"I do apologize Miss Harper, but this is the time Ms Potts has scheduled for you to wake." Jarvis answered back as the young teen with the milk chocolate colored hair slowly sat up in her king size bed that was clad in purple sheets.

Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, Harper sat there, her blue eyes still cloudy from the sleep. "Why this early?" Harper whined using her palms to rub her eyes.

"Ms Potts has it scheduled that you are to accompany your father on his business trip too-"

"Right right-" Harper cut Jarvis off. "-the weapon's presentation today." She groaned slowly rising from her bed . Walking over to the chair next to her large walk in closet, Harper picked up a pair of loose fitting sweatpants and slid them on over her underwear. "Those things are so boring." She groaned to herself also changing from her sleep shirt into a comfortable black tank top, and quickly tossed her hair up into a messy pony tail.

"I believe Ms Potts has it quality time between you and Mr Stark. A sort of father-daughter bonding." Jarvis' voice showing slight amusement.

Harper couldn't help but laugh softly. "I love Pepper, but after all these years you'd thing she'd learn that dad and I don't do that whole father-daughter thing anymore." She laughed walking out of the room down the steps, Harper's mind suddenly wondered back to when she was a child. She and her father were extremely close. Pepper called them "Two Peas In a Pod" or something like that.

A small smile came to her face remembering pizza and movie night. Her father would come home from New York after a meeting and bring two large New York style pizzas home. Then the two of them would do nothing but sit on the couch and munch on pizza and other random snacks while watching one of Harper's many favorite Disney movies.

As she got older Harper and spent more time in school, her father spent more time in his office. Pepper was now their line of communication most of the time. The two got along fine,it was just neither were in the same place at the same time, so Pepper always tried to schedule these little trips to get them closer.

Trugging herself down the steps, Harper was thrown from he thoughts but a new voice scouting the house. Rolling her eyes Harper tenses up. "Trash day..." She muttered crossing her arms over her chest as she tried to sneak her way past the intruder into the kitchen.

Operation "Avoid The Bimbo" was a success! Harper made it into the kitchen and saw a bowl of her favorite cereal waiting on her with a glass of milk waiting next to it, along with a large cup of coffee. "I love you Pepper." She smiled sitting herself on one of the large bar stools gripping the milk glass and poured it across her cereal. Picking up her spoon Harper almost had it in the cereal before the voice of intruders appeared behind her.

"You must be Harper Stark." Harper's blood ran cold. One thing she hated was people assuming their knew her.

Turning around in the bar stool Harper was face to face with a blonde woman. She was cute, cute enough for one of her father's many one night stands. Harper raised an index finger and pointed at the woman. "You must be Vicky?" She asked mocking the lady's sarcastic tone.

Frowning the lady crossed her arms over her chest, that's when Harper noticed the girl was wearing her father's shirt. "My name isn't Vicky." She snapped back.

"Oh?" Harper asked with face shock. "Last week it was Vicky." she fired back dully before spinning back around to her breakfast.

Much to her dismay the lady strolled around the other side of the bar looking dead at Harper. "How's it feel?"

"Hows what feel?" Harper asked turning her eyes down to her cereal.

"That Tony, your father, helped produce weapons that's murdered millions of people?" She asked clearly trying to get a rise out of Harper. "People even your age." The blonde added leaning on the bar top on her elbows and her head in her hands.

Harper's blue orbs shot up looking straight dead in the woman's eyes. "I guess it must feel the same as your mother felt knowing she gave birth to a woman who just became another notch on a billionaire's bed post and is still gonna walk away empty handed." Harper smiled sweetly before pointing to her bowl. "Cereal?" She offered in her best sweet voice.

The woman tensed up and opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by some one in the door way clearing their throat. "I don't mean to interrupt, but I have your clothes." Peppers calm voice filled the room as Harper just smiled. "They've been dry cleaned and pressed, and there's a car waiting out front that will take you anywhere you want to go." She smiled as the lady walked around bar and took the hangers from Pepper.

"You must be the famous Pepper Potts." Harper rolled her eyes.

"Indeed I am." Pepper replied smoothly faking a smile, but Harper could hear the annoyance in Pepper's voice.

"After all these years Tony still has you picking up the dry cleaning?" The blonde asked with a sarcastic attitude.

Harper bit the inside of her cheek to keep from tossing the bitch out on her ass.

"I do anything and everything Mr Stark requires." Pepper replied staying professional. "Including occasionally taking out the trash." Harper let out a low chuckle and slid off the bar stool picking up her bowl. "Will that be all?" Pepper finished off leaving the woman speechless.

Harper slipped out of the room before she heard anymore stupid comments from her father's latest lay, and headed down into the work shop, her father's loud music filling her ears.


	2. Leaving

**_(AN:: Please forgive any typos, it's very very late and I really wanted to update this story. Please review, even though I get nervous. haha. Thank! -Liza)_**

**_-Chapter 2- Leaving_**

Harper held her cereal bowl in one hand, trying to keep it steady from spilling milk and Lucky Charms all over her father's stairs. As she punched in her security clearance into the Jarvis system she could see, out of the corner of her eye, her father working on one of his many hot rods. Once the door opened she clasped her bowl tightly in one hand while the other hand gripped the spoon.

Smiling and munching softly on her cereal, Harper casually strolled up behind her father who was wiping down a piece of the engine with an oiled stained, red, microfiber cloth. "What'd ya think of her?" Tony asked over the music, not even looking up from his work.

Harper just rolled her eyes. "If that's gonna be my new stepmother I'm moving out." She stated simply before spooning more cereal in her mouth.

Tony chuckled as he fumbled with the engine part and slid it back into it's place. "If I'd have known that I would have married someone like her years ago!" Tony teased looking up at his child with a grin. He enjoyed their playful banter but most people didn't understand it. When they did it out in public people thought they must have hated each other. Their banter got them in trouble on many occasions. Some even made tabloid rumors! ~Tony Stark and daughter, Harper Stark, at war of Tony's choice in women!~ ~Harper Stark to be written out of the will and out of Stark Industries for good over a fight about Tony's newest girlfriend.~ Those were always his favorites. He'd send Harper the news clipping and the two of them would just laugh!

Harper faked a angry look at her father. "I knew it! You love those hussies more then your only, darling, innocent, flesh and blood!" She snapped playfully tossing her free hand over her face. "I should have run away with your credit card to Fiji years ago!"

"Fiji eh?" Tony asked asked, looking up and wiping his hands on a dirty cloth he was using for grease. "Most kids would have said the circus, or to a friends house." He smirked.

Smirking back Harper shrugged. "Not everyone's dad is Tony Stark either." She chuckled softly sitting on the work bench where Tony was putting all his tools. "Besides, don't we have one of those houses in Fiji where the floor is glass and you can see the water under it?" She asked before taking another bite of her breakfast.

Tony nodded, looking back down at his work. "Yeah. We just haven't been there in years."

"We should go for my birthday next week." She smiled a hopeful smile at her father.

"If that's what you want." Tony shrugged. "What about your schooling?"

Harper rolled her eyes, "Oh please dad, if I wanted to I could go ahead and take the exit exams and graduate. I don't think my teachers are gonna be mad if I take a week away. I've already passed all their classes and I'm ahead of the other kids when it comes to the work."

Tony couldn't help but smile, she was so much like him when it came to school. It was true she could go ahead and graduate if she wanted too, but Tony urged her to stay in as long as possible and just enjoy being a kid. He was robbed of that when his parents died. He didn't want to see Harper miss out on all the fun of high school. No matter if she was smarter then most kids her age. ~Well, with a dad like me, who'd really be surprised?~ Tony thought smugly.

He flaunted his brilliance on a daily basis, but Harper wasn't like him in that area. She didn't feel a need to show off her brilliant little mind in front of her teachers the way he did. Harper didn't like being teased for her smarts, nor that fact she and her father were loaded! Tony didn't care, it was his money he was flaunting it!

Tony didn't push his daughter any which way in school either, she was allowed to take the classes she wanted, and her fate wasn't bound to Stark Industries like his was. He didn't want to put all this pressure on her. However she had the same gift he did. Like him, she had built her first computer when she was just a little kid.

His kid was just like him but he tried to push her away from the weapon's industry and into something else. He knew she loved art so he had Pepper go around and buy up these pieces of art that Harper liked, most by Gustav Klimt, and enrolled her in art classes. Harper, like with everything else she tried, was able to pick up the art trade very easily. He also gave himself credit for her quick learning abilities.

Then it was music, Harper invested in a baby grand piano that sat very well in their sitting area. Some nights Tony and Pepper would just sit in there, with some New York style pizza, some sodas, and just listen to Harper play the piano. It was like he had his own little Beethoven slash Gustav Klimt roaming around the house. He knew he spoiled her, but she was his only child, so why the Hell not?

"Dad?" Harper called out with a raised eyebrow, "Dad?" She called again noticing her dad seemed to have drifted off in his own little world. "Earth to Tony Stark!" Harper yelled out over the music causing him to jump a bit turn his attention back to her. Harper just chuckled. "You alright? Ya kinda just went blank there for a moment."

Tony shook his head turning back to his work. "Got a little side tracked there."

Harper smiled smugly, "I know, my cuteness just does that to people."

Tony just smiled and shook his head. "I can never deny you are my child." He laugh still messing with the engine. "Give me an exploded view.." Tony muttered to Jarvis who projected a 3D model of the engine.

"The compression in cylinder three appears to be low." Jarvis answered.

"Log that.." Suddenly without warning the music stopped causing Harper to glance up turning her eyes to the door as Pepper, who was on her phone came walking in. "Please don't turn down my music." Tony said, not even looking up.

"You're supposed to be half way around the world right now."

"How'd she take it?"

Pepper sighed softly, "Like a champ,"

"Why you trying to hustle me outta here?" Tony asked putting the pieces back together as Harper hopped down from where she was sitting and made her way over to the sink, dumping out her milk.

"You're flight was scheduled to leave an hour and a half ago."

"That's funny, I thought with it being my plane and all, it would just leave when I got there." Tony shot back with his normal sarcastic tone.

"I need to speak with out about a couple of things before I get you out the door." Pepper was completely ignoring his comments.

"I mean doesn't it kinda defeat the propose of having your own plane if it departs before you arrive?"

Harper chuckled, "I agree.."

Pepper turned her eyes to Harper, giving her the 'butt out' look, to which Harper did. "Larry called. He's got another buyer for the Jackson Pollock in the wings. Do you want it? Yes or no?"

Tony sat on the edge of the engine wiping his hands off on the cloth. "Is it a good representation of his spring period?"

Harper sat quietly watching Pepper and her father work, "No. The Springs was actually the neighborhood in East Hampton where he lived and worked, not "spring" like the season."

"So," Tony turned his gaze to his daughter, "Harper?"

~Yay! I get to 'butt in'!~ Harper mentally cheered. "I think it's a fair representation, I think it's outrageously overpriced." Harper chimed in her two cents. She felt somewhat important when her dad included her on things like this.

"I need it," Tony said blandly, as if he was talking about a tie or something cheap. "Buy it, store it." He got up walking towards Harper as Pepper took down a little note and continued with the 'business'.

"Okay, the MIT commencement speech..." Pepper started but Tony was quick to cut her off.

"Is in June. Please, don't harangue me about stuff that's way, way, down..."

"Well they're haranguing me, so I'm gonna say yes..." Pepper jotted down a few more notes before opening up the blue folder she was carrying and thrusts a pen at Tony. "I need you to sign this...and Harper, I need you to go get dressed, you're running late now too."

"Why are you trying to rush us outta here? Do you have plans?" Tony asked reaching out for the pen.

"As a matter of fact I do." Pepper said with an as-a-matter-of-fact tone as Tony just gazed at her.

Harper watched the two with a knowing smirk. How come they both didn't see it?! They were head over heels for each other but no one ever made a move. Harper loved Pepper as a mother, in fact, Pepper was the only mother Harper ever really knew, and the only suitable "step-mother" Harper would allow in her life.

"I don't like it when you have plans," Tony stated, the two looking at each other, Harper suddenly felt like a third wheel and made her way towards the door.

"I'm allowed to have plans on my birthday." Pepper defended herself as Tony signed the paper.

"It's your birthday? I knew that." Tony muttered shooting a look towards Harper, who was tiptoeing towards the door. "Already?"

"Yeah, isn't that funny," Pepper said with an amused smirk on her face, "it's the same day as last year."

"Well, get yourself something nice from me..."

"I already did..."

"And?"

"Oh," Pepper smiled, "It's very nice, very tasteful." She nodded as Tony grinned, "Thank you Mr. Stark."

"You're very welcome Miss Potts." Tony cut his eyes away from Pepper and stopped Harper before she could walk out the door. "Harper, I can't believe you forgot it was Pepper's birthday." He called making her spin around on her heels.

"I did no such thing! I've already given her a gift last night and everything." Harper defended, feeling quite happy with herself.

"Show off." Tony mumbled to himself drinking what Pepper had given him. "I didn't know you were coming today." Tony handed Pepper back the cup and wondered towards the door with Pepper in tow.

"I made plans for the two of you to go," Pepper pipped up, "I think it would be good for Harper to learn more about the company now that she's getting older."

Tony slightly tensed, he didn't want Harper to feel like she was bound to his fate, "I thought we discussed this, if she wants anything to to with the company, she can tell me on her own. I don't want her to feel like she's forced into this life." Tony ranted as the three wondered up the steps.

"As a Stark, she's already a part of the company. One day she'll be your successor." Pepper tried to reason.

"I'm standing right here." Harper rolled her eyes. She felt confused, it was like her dad didn't want her to have anything to do with the company her family built. Was he scared she was gonna ruin it? Even on times when she wanted to go to these demonstrations her father would talk her out of it, saying she should be doing 'teenage things,' like going to the movies with friends and things like that.

Harper didn't have many friends seeing as how all the other kids teased her about her perfect grades, and rich family. They were jealous and sometimes Harper wished her family was just some normal family with a dad who works a normal job and isn't a CEO of a major company.

Tony smiled at Harper and reached out ruffing her hair as they reached the top of the steps. "I know munchkin," He smirked, using the one nickname she loathed. He chuckled as she tensed.

"I do want to get to know the company." Harper smacked his hand away.

Tony just huffed, "Fine, but when I get back. I don't want you going to the middle of a war zone with me." He stated firmly.

Harper sighed deeply kicking the ground with her foot, she had always wanted to see Afghanistan with her own eyes. "Damn.." She muttered as Happy came down the steps with Tony's luggage.

"Language!" Pepper scolded the young Stark with narrowed eyes. She hated when Harper cursed, but that could have just been the mother in her coming out.

"I mean it Harp," Tony said placing a hand on her shoulder, "Maybe one day, but not this time. Not where there's a possibility of seeing the war first hand." Tony didn't choose his words carefully enough, and instantly regretted it seeing his daughters eyes go wide.

"Then you cant go!" Harper mumbled, her biggest fear was losing her father, and now realizing that her father was in fact going in dangerous territory, her blood ran cold and she got that nervous feeling rise in her stomach. She knew her dad had lost his parents at a young age, and she already lost her mother, she couldn't bare to lose her father as well.

Tony frowned seeing the worry in Harper's eyes and placed both hands on her shoulders, "I'm gonna be fine Harp, I promise." He tried to reassure her. He suddenly got a flash back to all the money he had once spent on therapist for Harper when she was maybe five or six. She would wake up in the middle of the night having night-terrors. Screaming for her dad and Pepper. Harper's phobia was being left alone, and he hated how she suddenly became so scared.

_~Flashback~_

_Harper had been left in Happy's care when she was a child, while Tony and Pepper were attending a Stark Industries function. It had been storming so badly that night and while Harper had been asleep alone in her room, Happy was down in the gym working on his kickboxing. Suddenly, the house was struck by lightening right outside of Harper's window, knocking all the power out at the house, and knocking Jarvis completely off line._

_Happy had to bust through the glass door of the gym to get out, seeing as Jarvis was in control of all the locks on the house, and Tony had installed a safety feature on the house that locked all the doors in case of a break in. He didn't know it would lock the gym and garage doors completely so you couldn't get into or out of the main house._

_Once Happy managed to break through the glass doors he stumbled up the steps in the pitch black dark, the only light coming from the lightening the filled the mostly glass house. Once he got into Harper's room his blood ran cold. The lightening had struck so close, the impact had shattered her large glass window, rain was pouring inside and Harper was not in her bed, nor where else in the room._

_In a panic, Happy tore the whole room apart screaming for Harper, wishing Jarvis' generator would turn on so he could have some light to search. He feared that Harper had wondered outside into the storm and would somehow fall into the ocean. The poor thing didn't really know how to swim that well yet._

_With no luck finding Harper, he pulled out his cell phone calling Pepper so she could reach Tony. Still with the phone to his ear, listening to the completely panicked voice of Pepper as she and Tony were rushing home, Happy went back to searching the house, one room at a time. Finally he stumbled to Tony's room and saw the door had been slung open, Tony normally kept his door shut, this caused Happy to get a tiny bit of hope as he walked in, using his phone's screen for a flashlight. He searched the closet and bathroom calling out for Harper._

_With no luck, he was about to leave the room when he heard a muffled cry come from under Tony's bed. Quickly dropping to his knees he shinned the screen of his phone under the bed and saw a terrified, Harper clinging to the stuffed rabbit that Tony had bought her when she was three, she had nabbed one of Tony's shirts and had covered herself up with it, only her tear stained face in visible to him._

_He tried his hardest to try and get Harper out from under the bed, but she wouldn't budge nor speak to him. She just laid there in the fetal position and whimpered in fear. Harper would ever squeal in fear each time the lightening flashed around the house._

_This went on for half and hour until magically the lights flicked back on causing Harper to scream, thinking lightening was striking the house again. Only a few minutes after that, Happy could hear foot steps racing up the steps. "HARPER!" Tony's voice yelled out through the house. It was Tony who had turned Jarvis back online._

_"In here..." Happy yelled back, keeping his eyes on the child who's breathing had quickened and become more of a wheezing sound, he was scared she was having a panic attack and he couldn't reach her, he couldn't even move the bed with out possibly hurting her._

_Tony ran into his room and frowned seeing Happy kneeling down beside his bed. "Where is she?" He panted, Pepper quickly joining them, both their faces white as sheets._

_"Under here, she wont come out. I think she's having a panic attack." Happy frowned moving out of the way, Pepper quickly pulling out her phone to call a doctor._

_Tony dropped to his knees beside the bed and looked under at his daughter who had her eyes closed tightly, still wheezing. "Harper, honey." He spoke softly, holding his hand out to her. "Come out sweetie. It's okay." Harper didn't even open her eyes, it was almost like she didn't hear him._

_"Harper!" Tony said a bit louder, fear washing over him. "Harper, come out, we're here...daddy's here, Happy's here, and so is Pepper. It's okay." He tried again as she slowly opened her eyes, her blue eyes red from the crying. Tony just stretched out his arm as far as he could trying to reach her. Dammit, why did he buy such a wide bed? "Come on sweetie. It's okay.." He tried again as she slowly inched her way towards her father, still wheezing._

_Holding out her hand Harper was almost in her father's grasp when another bolt of lightening struck near the house, not knocking out the power, but close enough to scare Harper to death. Her eyes widening, she grabbed her father's hand and without a hesitation he pulled her out from under the bed into his arms._

_Her wheezing only getting worse Harper hid her face in Tony's jacket, clinging to him for dear life. Her tears soaking his shirt, but he didn't even care. He wrapped his arms protectively around his daughter and sat there on the floor with her. Rocking her slightly and rubbing her back, trying to calm her down._

_"The doctor's on his way." Pepper said dropping next to them, reaching out to stroke Harper's hair. Harper just whimpered and snuggled in closer to Tony, scared she was going to be taken away from him._

_Tony shook his head at Pepper, silently telling her not to touch Harper until she could relax a bit._

_~End flashback~_

Tony frowned thinking of that night, and how scared he was to even hear of something possibly happening to Harper. After that, her night-terrors started and her phobia of being left alone.

She was now to the point where she could stay at home alone, and it wasn't until she was eight that she started sleeping through thunder storms at night. For the longest time she'd come sneak into Tony's bed and nearly have another panic attack, begging him not to leave her alone. Those were the longest nights for Tony, he hardly got any sleep because he was worrying Harper was gonna hyperventilate or something.

Harper frowned deeply, as her father spaced out again. She wrapped her arms around her body still wishing he didn't have to go. "Can't Obi do it?" She asked hopefully biting down on her lower lip.

"I'm sorry Harp, but he's got meetings. I'll only be gone for two or three days, and then we'll leave for Fiji, we'll spend a whole week there for your birthday? Okay?" He said offering a small smile as Happy pointed to his watch. Tony just nodded slightly, turning his gaze back down to Harper. "Okay?"

Sighing deeply, Harper knew she was being childish and nodded slowly. "Okay..." She forced a smile still hugging herself. Tony smiled and leaned in to give her a hug but Harper stepped back, "No, hug me when you get back." She bit her lip again.

Tony just smiled slightly, "Why don't you ever let me hug you before I leave?"

"Because a hug goodbye always seems like an formalized 'goodbye' to me. Like what you give someone when you're never gonna see them again." She shrugged, "A hug when you get back feels like 'I'm here to stay' type of hug."

Tony just chuckled kissing her head. "Then I'll hug you when I get back." He smiled as Pepper handed him his jacket, "Take care of the house, no wild parties until I get back, and keep an eye on Pepper." Tony whispered the last part gaining a small scowl from Pepper.

Harper smiled and gave her dad a salute. "Sir, yes Sir!" She smiled. "Have a safe flight dad." She smiled following Tony and Happy towards the front door.

"It's my plane, it's the safest in the sky." Tony grinned smugly causing Harper to chuckle.

"Silly me, of course it it." She smiled sadly watching her dad get into his Audi. Standing next to Pepper, Harper waved at her father, watching them both race out of the drive way.

"Well," Pepper said looking over at Harper, frowning when she saw a tear fall down Harper's face. Something that hasn't happened when Tony left since she was eleven. "Harper, honey, whats wrong?" She asked reaching out and began stroking Harper's dark locks.

Harper wiped her tears away keeping her eyes on where her father had disappeared out of her view. "I just have a bad feeling about something..."

"It's just nerves sweetheart. Your dads gonna be just fine." Pepper hugged the teen rubbing her back gently as Pepper rested her head on Pepper's shoulder. "Come on, go get dressed and come with me. I'm going to the spa with some friends, part of your dads birthday gift for me, come with us." Pepper smiled as Harper pulled away and shook her head.

"Nope," She chuckled softly, "It's your birthday, which means it's Stark-Free." She smiled walking back into the house followed by Pepper. "I'm fine anyways, I might go see that new movie that came out." She grinned back at Pepper.

"What movie?"

Harper froze, "What movies are playing?" Both women started laughing.


	3. Snacks and Gunfire

**_A/N I'm sorry if this chapter seems rushed, I'm kinda in a writer's block at the moment._**

Chapter 3:: Snacks and Gunfire

The house was empty, lonely, dark. It was such a big house, especially when you're alone and had no one to talk to except the artificial intelligence that was programmed into the house. Tapping her pencil on her desk top, Harper glanced up out the window and stared out into the darkness before letting out a small sigh. "Hey Jarvis, what's the time?" Harper asked softly looking back down at her homework that was only halfway finished. Harper couldn't keep her mind on anything but this horrible nagging feeling that was still playing with head.

"Should I assume you were talking about where your father is?" The voice of Jarvis filled her room.

"You assumed correctly." She answered with a roll of her eyes.

"It would be nine thirty-eight in the morning in Afghanistan." Jarvis answered displaying the time in front of Harper's desk. Harper glanced up at the time, watching as the seconds slow tick by. Doing some quick math in her head Harper let out an even louder sigh, it was only ten o-eight where she was. "Still worrying about your father Miss?" Jarvis asked pulling the time away from Harper's view.

"That obvious?" She asked looking back to her work, working out the simple math equation that was she assigned from her advanced math class. Breezing through the question without even having to stop and really think her mind went rushing back to her father. "I hope he's okay." She muttered to herself jotting more answers into her notebook.

Jarvis was doing his best to make sure Harper wasn't feeling lonely, but engaging her in useless conversation. "I'm sure Mr Stark is perfectly fine. He's surrounded by military, I doubt he'll get into any trouble."

Harper let out a small laugh as she closed her notebook and stood up stretching her arms over her head. "Jarvis, its dad!" She giggled. "You know he'll find a way to wiggle his away and find some kind of trouble, the question is if this trouble is a blonde, brunette, or red-head." She shook her head heading for her door as her stomach gave a small growl. Her feet padding softly across the cool flooring.

"Your father seems to be fancying the blondes lately, if I do say so myself."

Laughing Harper nodded opening her door stepping out into the hall, glancing towards the hall that leads into her father's room. "Sadly he has, and anti-gun girls to boot." She rolled her eyes thinking of all the Anti-war and anti-weapons seminars she had been invited to over the years by her dad's flavor of the week. "He must just love the irony of it all. Those girls who say they despise him, but yet they're so quick to jump into bed with him." She muttered starting down the steps. She knew she should be getting ready for bed, but since she was alone she was gonna pig out on ice cream, and sodas, something her dad never let her do on school nights.

Frowning at the darkness of the house Harper crossed her arms over her chest hating now her house was mostly windows and anyone could just see in and watch what she was doing. Quickly she made her way into to the kitchen, heading straight for the fridge, grabbing a spoon along the way.

Flinging open the freezer door she smirked looking at the large tub of strawberry ice cream staring back at her. Grabbing it out she kicked the freezer door shut before going into the fridge grabbing out the whipped cream and chocolate sauce. Sitting her grand feast on the counter top she searched the cabinet next to the stove, pulling out a large bottle of sprinkles. Walking back up to the counter she pulled herself up, sitting with her legs crossed under her on the counter top. Humming softly to herself she pried open the ice cream before grabbing the whipped cream and just began spraying it into the container, next was the chocolate sauce, followed lastly by half the bottle of sprinkles.

Taking her spoon she scooped herself up bite that was dripping chocolate before quickly shoving it in her mouth. Her eyes closing and she let out a satisfied sigh. "Perfect!" She muttered through the mouthful before going in for another bite.

Harper was at least three bites into her supper before her pocket started vibrating. Harper's eyes widened and she left the spoon hanging from her mouth as her hands fumbled in her pocket pulling out her cellphone. Seeing the name that popped up on the caller ID made her smile, accepting the call she put the phone to her ear. "Hey dad." She answered, her words muffled from the spoon.

"You're in the ice cream aren't you?" Tony asked without even saying hello. He knew his girl like the back of his hand.

Harper smirked scooping up another bite into the spoon. "No.." She grinned with a mouth full of whipped cream.

"Yes you are." Harper swore she could 'hear' him rolling his eyes at her.

No, I'm not "IN" the ice cream. I'm eating it. There is a huge difference." She smirked licking the spoon clean.

"Potato, patoto-" Tony breezed off her sarcastic answer letting the subject drop. "-did you finish your school work?" He asked putting on his fatherly act.

Harper nodded taking another bite. "Yes sir. Just finished. How did your presentation go?"

Suddenly Tony went from fatherly to sarcastic, "Oh you know how these things go, huge parties, lots of booze, drugs, girls everywhere, another great weapon sold by yours truly."

Giggling Harper shook her head. "Congrats! You'll be coming home now right?" She asked trying to hide her nervousness. His work was done so he had to come home right away.

"Shouldn't be too long." He answered over the noise over the Humvee. Harper could barely make out the sound of ACDC playing over a horrible sound system. "We just finish up a few more things then I should be home. So make sure you clean up all the beer bottles and when I get home I better not find any boys there."

Harper giggled again rolling her eyes. "I haven't thrown any wild parties."

"None?" Tony faked a shocked tone. "Well I'm disappointed in you. I thought I raised you better than that."

"I blame Pepper." Harper shrugged holding the phone to her ear with her shoulder as she continued eating the ice cream.

"Speaking of Pepper, what did y'all do today? Other then spend all my money."

"Nothing, she went out with her friends and I stayed home, watched movies and pigged out on pizza and hotdogs." Harper grinned through the mouthful. She wasn't about to admit to her father that she was lonely, she hated seeming needy like she couldn't handle being on her on for a few nights.

"You and that junk food.." Tony sighed through the other end of the phone "You're eating healthy when I get home."

"Dad, you don't eat healthy." She snorted rolling her eyes.

"I'm dad, I make the rules, you're child, you follow the rules." Tony teased his child.

"Like you follow the rules?" She giggled.

"Touche. Now put that junk food away and go to bed, you have school in the morning, no skipping!" Tony suddenly got serious. He knew she wouldn't skip but he still wanted to say it, she was a smart kid and she really didn't need school like the other kids did but he was hell bound on her having a semi-normal childhood.

Harper let out a long over exaggerated sigh. "Man, I was gonna bail and go to the arcade and play ski ball." She whined, "They have these really hip spider rings that only cost about thirty bucks!"

Tony rolled his eyes and chuckled, "Goodnight Harper."

"G'night dad...be careful."

"Always am."

* * *

Flicking his phone closed Tony slid it into the inside pocket of his jacket before looking at the others in the vehicle with him, they had been silent from the moment he got in. The kid next to him was looking at him nervously before quickly glancing back out of the window. The silence was killing him. "I feel like you're driving me to a court-martial." He stated...silence.

"This is crazy, what'd I do?" He popped off again but still didn't get a single sound from the others. "I feel like you're gonna pull over and snuff me. What, you're not allowed to talk?" Now he was getting a little agitated. "Hey Forrest!" He turned his gaze to the kid next to him.

"We can talk, sir." The young solider answered softly still avoiding eye contact with Tony.

"Oh I see, so it's personal?" Tony asked.

"No," Came a famine voice from the driver's seat. "You intimidate them." She answered as Tony turned his gaze to her.

"Good god you're a woman? I honestly...I couldn't have called that." He blurted without thinking, He quickly jumped into charm mode. "I mean, I apologize but isn't that what we're going for? I thought of you as a solider first."

"I'm an airman." She corrected him trying to hide her grin.

"You have excellent bone structure there. I'm kinda having a hard time not looking at you now." Tony kept his eyes on the woman. "Is that weird?"

The ice was now officially broken and it didn't feel as tense. "Come one, it's okay laugh!" Even Tony felt a little more at ease.

"Sir I have a question, the other man in the front seat asked turning in his seat to face Tony. Is it true you went twelve for twelve with last year's Maxim cover models?"

Pulling off his sunglasses Tony lowered both hands, taking extra care not to spill his drink along the bumpy road. "That's an excellent question, yes and no. March and I had a scheduling conflict, but fortunately the Christmas cover was twins." He answered coolly. "Anything else?"

The younger man next to him shyly raised his hand. "You're kidding me with the hand up, right?" Tony asked as the guy blushed and lowered his hand. "If it's about my daughter you're too old for her." Tony answered just enjoying picking on this young-in. He was overly shy for a soldier. He smirked as the man's face went beat red and the other two began laughing.

"N-no, I wasn't... I mean wondering if it'd cool if I took a picture with you?" The young man asked.

"Yes, it's very cool." Tony nodded holding in his chuckle.

The solider smiled nervously handing his camera to the guy in the front seat. "I don't want to see this on your myspace.." Tony leaned over as the kid held up a peace sign for the picture. "Please, no gang signs."

He lowered his hand, slowly not knowing if Tony was joking or not. "No I'm just kidding, throw it up." The younger man raised up his hand again, smiling and making a peace sign once again with his fingers. "Yeah, peace. I love peace. I'd be out of a job with peace." Tony shrugged as the two soldiers began bickering about how to work the camera.

What happened next was something that Tony wouldn't have dreamed of in even his worst nightmares. The Humvee in front of his suddenly exploded as if they hit a landmine or were shot by a rocket. Tony felt his heart stop and his blood run cold, he couldn't even make out what everyone else was screaming at him and to each other. It seemed as if time suddenly began to slow down. He watched as one by one the soldiers in the Humvee began falling.

He glanced to the younger man beside him as he began to get out of the Humvee. "Wait, give me a gun!" Tony screamed at the kid.

"Stay here!" He yelled back before turning around, immediately getting shot and falling to the ground out of Tony's sight.

"Shit.." Tony cursed panic running through his veins. "Rhodey.." he muttered slipping quickly out of the Humvee looking to the one behind his. His head began swimming as the sound of bullets and explosions filled his ears. Looking around for somewhere to hide. Spotting a large rock, Tony threw himself behind it and took a shaky breath. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out his phone, no sooner as he began trying to make a call did something slam into the ground beside him. Glancing over his blood ran cold as he read the name on the side of the small missile. ~Stark Industries~. Before he could react or even run it exploded, his chest began to burn in excruciating pain as he found himself laying on his back. Pulling his shirt open he looked down at his Kevlar vest and the blood the was pouring through the holes in it. Resting his head back on the ground he let out a shaky breath staring up at the sun before everything went black.

* * *

Later that day, Rhodey sat in the medical tent getting a large cut above his eyebrow was getting cleaned out. He hadn't been severely injured when they were ambushed, he was one the of the ones who got away alive. A huge tug a guilt pulled at his heart as he sat there, so many of his soldiers died today, and Tony...they couldn't find Tony's body. All Rhodey could find were pieces of a cell phone and blood stains on the ground.

"Colonel Rhodes?" Rhodey was thrown from his thoughts as he was joined by two other officers, Rhodey quickly moved to stand but was stilled by the officer that spoke. "Sit.." He ordered patting Rhodey on the shoulder. "How are you feeling Colonel?"

Rhodey couldn't keep his eyes up, he turned his gaze down to the ground. "Not so good sir.." He answered rolling his hands together. "We lost a lot of good men...and ..." He paused taking a deep breath. "-and Stark." His voice cracked a bit thinking of his good friend and not knowing where he was, or if he was even still alive.

"We've sent out scouts to search nearby to find who ambushed y'all and to find Stark's body." The officer stated crossing his arms, the thought of Tony being dead caused Rhodey to feel even worse. He should've been in that Humvee with Tony, but he wasn't. He let Tony out of his sight for one minute and now his friend could just as well been dead, or is being tortured. "The odds we'll find them are slim."

"What do we tell the press?" The other officer asked looking down at Rhodey.

"We tell him nothing." Rhodey said slowly getting to his feet. He knew he couldn't let himself wallow in this right now. Rhodey knew Tony wouldn't want Rhodey to get all emotional over him, and neither would his men. "We keep this as tight lipped as possible until we have more answers, we are also gonna keep looking for Stark." He stated with a nod.

"I don't know how long the press is going to wait before fabricating stories of their own."

"Did anyone contact Stark's next up kin yet?"

Rhodey's eyes went wide, Harper...she didn't know. "He has a daughter. She's still in school." Rhodey's heart broke for Harper, Tony had told him how she begged him not to leave a few days ago now some one had to tell her that her father, her only family member was possibly dead. "She needs to be told before anyone tells the press anything."

The officers both nodded. "Agreed. We can send someone to-"

"No," Rhodey interrupted with a shake of his head. "I'll go. I'll take her father's jet back tonight and tell her in person."

"Do you think that's a good idea?" The officer asked concerned for Rhodey's own well being.

"I've known her since she was a baby. It should come from me rather than from someone she doesn't know." He nodded sadly his heart breaking for the young girl. She was so close to her father that this would destroy her. "After that, I'm coming back to help with the search." Rhodey stated walking towards the flap of the tent.


End file.
